AHBRA publishes 2025 Annual Report and detailed analysis of growing AHB sector
The Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) has today published its 2025 Annual Report alongside its Sectoral Analysis and Regulatory Insights 2026 Report, providing a detailed picture of the scale, development and changing characteristics of the Approved Housing Body sector.
Approved Housing Bodies play an important role in the delivery and management of social and affordable housing across Ireland. AHBs reported that they owned or managed 76,954 dwellings at the end of 2025 and plan for a further 22,268 dwellings between 2026 and 2028. On the basis of these reported plans, the sector would own or manage just under 100,000 homes by the end of 2028.
The Sectoral Analysis brings together evidence from across AHBRA’s regulatory work, identifying key sector themes that inform its regulatory approach.
Eddie Lewis, Chairperson of AHBRA, said: “The AHB sector continues to make an important contribution to the provision and management of social and affordable housing in Ireland. As the sector grows and evolves, effective regulation provides assurance to tenants, Government, funders and the wider public that organisations are well governed and that significant public investment is appropriately managed.
Our Annual Report shows clear evidence of progress. We are seeing AHBs respond positively where weaknesses have been identified, demonstrating the importance of clear regulatory expectations, appropriate follow-through and sustained action.
Our approach is proportionate. Where AHBs engage and demonstrate credible progress, we will work through the regulatory process to secure compliance. Where concerns remain or sufficient progress is not demonstrated, we will respond appropriately, including through the use of our statutory powers where necessary.”
AHB sector continuing to grow in scale and complexity
The Sectoral Analysis shows that the financial and organisational scale of the sector increased significantly during 2025. Total income reached approximately €2.3 billion, fixed assets increased to approximately €12.5 billion, and staffing also increased during the year.
Growth is concentrated among the largest organisations. The nine largest AHBs currently account for 75% of sector dwellings and reported 84% of the additional dwellings planned between 2026 and 2028.
The way in which new housing is expected to be delivered is also changing. Reported delivery plans indicate that approximately half of the additional dwellings will be delivered through construction or self-build, and half through the acquisition of completed dwellings.
This changing delivery profile, alongside increasing organisational scale, larger development programmes and funding commitments, brings additional operational and financial complexity, reinforcing the importance of ensuring that AHBs’ governance, financial oversight, organisational capacity and risk management keep pace with organisational growth and development.
Annual Report highlights regulatory activity and progress
During 2025, AHBRA completed 20 assessments and issued 17 further assessment notices. Six AHBs previously found to be non-compliant subsequently achieved compliance following reassessment, demonstrating the progress that can be made when regulatory findings are addressed.
AHBRA also continued to use compliance plans, enhanced monitoring and other regulatory interventions where required. Assessment outcomes have been published since March 2025, providing greater transparency on the outcomes of AHBRA’s regulatory work.
Fergal O’Leary, Chief Executive of AHBRA, said: “The sector is changing significantly, both in scale and in the nature of the activities being undertaken by many AHBs. Through our monitoring, assessments, Notifiable Events and wider regulatory engagement, we now have a much deeper understanding of the opportunities, challenges and risks emerging across the sector.
This analysis brings together evidence from across our regulatory work and identifies a number of important sector-wide insights. While these will not apply equally to every AHB, they highlight themes which are becoming increasingly important as the sector continues to evolve.
The insights in this report are already informing where we focus our regulatory attention, including our monitoring, regulatory engagement and assessment activity. Our approach is to apply an appropriate and proportionate regulatory response to the AHB, the issue and the level of risk involved.”
The Sectoral Analysis identifies four principal Regulatory Insights emerging from AHBRA’s work: organisational growth and complexity; governance and organisational capacity; development and construction; and financial oversight and early regulatory engagement. These are sector-level observations; their relevance will vary according to the scale, operating model, financial position, development activity and individual circumstances of each organisation.
In 2026, a new Regulatory Engagement function has been established, with work underway to strengthen stakeholder engagement and capability-building in the sector, and to review AHBRA’s regulatory guidance.
AHBRA has also commenced a programme of targeted engagement and thematic review, bringing together analysis and direct engagement with groups of AHBs to examine particular areas of regulatory risk and identify where guidance, monitoring or other regulatory action may be appropriate. This work supports AHBRA’s ongoing monitoring, assessments and compliance activity and will continue to shape how AHBRA targets regulatory engagement and oversight across the sector.
